On which I write about the books I read, science, science fiction, fantasy, and anything else that I want to. Currently trying to read and comment upon every novel that has won the Hugo and International Fantasy awards.

Friday, December 31, 1976

Comments: In 1976, the Campbell judges decided not to give an award to any novel, instead reaching back six years to hand a Retrospective Prize to Wilson Tucker's 1970 novel The Year of the Quiet Sun. Like all of the other "off-brand" awards that have been handed out at the Campbell Awards, this was the first, and so far, only time this kind of prize was given out. Everything about the Campbell awards in 1976 is somewhat puzzling. Tucker's novel, while good (evidenced by its nominations in 1970 for both the Hugo and Nebula Award), isn't so compelling that it seems like it would have demanded retroactive recognition. Not only that, there seem to have been plenty of deserving novels that were eligible for the Best Novel award in 1976. Not only is Robert Silverberg's Stochastic Man a fine novel, but if one looks at the Hugo and Nebula nominees for this year one finds a list replete with excellent novels, starting with Joe Haldeman's Hugo and Nebula winning Forever War. But even if the Campbell judges didn't want to be seen as following the Hugos and Nebulas, they could have voted for Samuel R. Delany's Dhalgren, Joanna Russ' The Female Man, Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle's The Mote in God's Eye, Roger Zelazny's Doorways in the Sand, or any number of other excellent novels. Given the plethora of strong novels published in 1975, it seems puzzling that the Campbell Awards simply declined to recognize any of them.

Comments: In 1976 the Best Adult Fantasy Literature Award category vanished from the slate of Mythopoeic Awards. I'm not sure why the category disappeared this year, but it was merely a harbinger of things to come as the Mythopoeic Awards would vanish entirely for the next several years. Despite my best efforts to figure out why the Mythopoeic Society took these steps and eliminated first their fantasy literature award, and then their scholarship award as well, I have found nothing that provides clarity on these issues.

Comments: In 1976 the Best Original Anthology and Best Reprint Anthology categories were eliminated and merged into a single Best Anthology category, a decision that I think was a good one. From a publishing perspective there is certainly a distinction to be made between an anthology that is comprised of original material and an anthology comprised of material that had previously been published elsewhere, but from a reader's perspective, the distinction matters almost not at all, and in many cases was probably confusing.

This year also saw the creation of a new category, which was listed at the time as Best Associational Item, but lines up with the later-created category of Best Nonfiction, Related, or Reference Work, which is how I have listed it here. Essentially, this category recognizes books that are about science fiction and fantasy, but aren't themselves works of science fiction or fantasy.

3. The Borderland of Sol by Larry Niven
4. The Silent Eyes of Time by Algis Budrys
5. ARM by Larry Niven
6. The Custodians by Richard Cowper
7. A Momentary Taste of Being by James Tiptree, Jr.
8. Allegiances by Michael Bishop
9. Silhouette by Gene Wolfe
10. Mother and Child by Joan D. Vinge
11. Ancient Shadows by Michael Moorcock
12. Sharking Down by Edward Bryant

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